FCC announces second round of RDOF broadband funding; pulls back other offers

The Federal Communications Commission announced its second round of funding for new broadband investments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). It also revealed that it is “continuing its work to refocus the program to ensure that funding goes to unserved areas that need broadband,” and as a result dozens of winning bidders from the previous round have “chosen not to pursue buildout … .”

This second round of funding authorizes more than $163 million to 42 providers in 21 states that will bring broadband service to approximately 65,000 locations over the next 10 years. In July, the FCC sent letters to 197 winning bidders offering providers “an opportunity to withdraw their funding requests from places where there was evidence of service or where questions of waste have been raised.” As a result of that process, 85 bidders chose not pursue buildout in areas that had evidence of existing service or questions of potential waste.